The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of hybrid Baptisia plant, botanically known as Baptisia ‘American Goldfinch’ and will be referred to hereafter by its cultivar name, ‘American Goldfinch’. The new cultivar represents a new false indigo, a hardy herbaceous perennial grown for landscape and cut flower use.
The new invention arose from an ongoing breeding program of the inventor at a nursery in Waseca, Minn. with continued evaluation at a wholesale perennial nursery in Zeeland, Mich. with the specific intention of improving garden worthiness of perennial false indigo plants with a wider variety of flower colors and improved garden habit.
Baptisia ‘American Goldfinch’ was a single seedling selection from a cross from a pollination of a proprietary unnamed unreleased hybrid of B. sphaerocarpa x B. alba (not patented) as the female or seed parent, and the male parent is an unnamed Baptisia sphaerocarpa selection (not patented).
Seeds were collected from the individual selected female plant in September of 2009 at the isolation block in Waseca, Minn., USA by the inventor. The seeds were sown by the inventor at a wholesale perennial nursery in Zeeland, Mich. in the fall of 2009 and the initial selection made in the spring of 2014 at the same nursery. The seedling ultimately given the name ‘American Goldfinch’ was given the breeder code of H9-19-02.
No plants of Baptisia ‘American Goldfinch’ have been sold, under this or any name, in this country or anywhere in the world, prior to the filing of this application, nor has any disclosure of the new plant been made prior to the filing of this application with the exception of that which may have been disclosed within one year of the filing of this application and was either derived directly or indirectly from the inventor.
‘American Goldfinch’ was initially asexually propagated by stem cuttings at a wholesale perennial nursery in Zeeland, Mich. in June of 2014. The resultant plants have demonstrated that the new plant has remained stable and true to type in successive generations of asexual propagation.
The nearest comparison plants known to the inventor are ‘Lemon Meringue’ U.S. Plant Pat. No. 24,280, ‘Solar Flare’ U.S. Plant Pat. No. 20,408 and ‘Sunny Morning’ U.S. Plant Pat. No. 25,479. The new plant is taller than ‘Lemon Meringue’ and ‘Sunny Morning’ and shorter than ‘Solar Flare’. The flowers of ‘Solar Flare’ are lighter yellow blushed with orange-violet and the peduncles are more chartreuse than the new plant. The peduncles of both ‘Sunny Morning’ and ‘Lemon Meringue’ are heavily suffused with grey-purple compared with the glaucous yellow-green of the new plant. Compared with ‘Lemon Meringue’ the new plant produces more flowers per inflorescence and the stem of ‘Lemon Meringue’ is more greyed-purple.
Compared with the female parent the new plant is more mounded in habit and more floriferous. Compared to the male parent, the new plant is more floriferous with longer inflorescence and lighter yellow in flower color. The seed pods of B. sphaerocarpa and specifically the male parent are also spherical, much firmer and typically contain only two seeds.
The new plant differs from all Baptisia known to the inventor in the following combined traits:                1. Golden yellow flowers on long spikes.        2. Flowers maintain their golden yellow coloration from bud to anthesis.        3. Broad, mounded, multi-stemmed, well-branched, winter-hardy habit.        4. Glaucous, medium-green, tri-foliate foliage.        